TOP - August 2016, Vol 9, No 3

Multivitamin supplement use was associated with a reduction in symptoms of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) in a subanalysis of the SWOG S0221 trial. Patients who were using multivitamins before chemotherapy had 40% less neuropathy, and those using them during or after treatment had a 23% reduced risk.

A collaborative international pilot study found large differences in retail prices for 23 cancer drugs, showing highest retail prices in the United States and lowest prices in India and South Africa. Lower prices, however, did not necessarily mean the drugs were more affordable.

The first oncology biosimilar—filgrastim-sndz (Zarxio)—was approved in the United States in March 2015, but this category of drugs is still fairly misunderstood, according to Jim M. Koeller, MS, Professor, College of Pharmacy, University of Texas at Austin.

Response is a poor outcome measure of immunotherapy, according to Tanguy Seiwert, MD, who addressed this and other concerning issues in immunotherapy at the 2016 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium.

CancerLinQ (Learning Intelligence Network for Quality) is a powerful database containing a vast amount of usable, searchable, real-world cancer information, created by oncologists, for oncologists, to improve the quality of patient care, according to updates presented at the 2016 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Quality Care Symposium.